Yodelin’ Yaks
From ALLmanac, the online encyclopedia
“Yodelin’ Yaks”
The Ren & Stimpy Show episode
Episode no.
Directed by
Written by[1]
- Eric Stefani
- Vincent Waller (script doctoring)
- Richard Pursel (script doctoring)
Featured music
- “The Yodel Song” - by Nirvana
Original air date
Guest appearances
- Kurt Cobain as Yander the Yak
- Dave Grohl as Rex the Minion
- Krist Novoselic as Pex the Minion
Episode chronology
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“Yodelin’ Yaks” is the second episode of the second season of the American animated television series
The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 22, 1992. In the episode, Ren and Stimpy seek to hike up the Swiss Alps in order to seek the mystical “Golden Cheese of Montaine”[3], but require the help of Yander the Yak (voiced by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain), and his minions Rex (voiced by Dave Grohl) and Pex (voiced by Krist Novoselic). After facing hardship after hardship, Yander gets the idea to give all of them his special soup - causing them to eventually power through.
Directed by Bob Camp, this episode was the first to be written by Eric Stefani - who would later go on to become the one of the main writers and eventually show runner in 1994. Unlike most episodes of
Ren & Stimpy made before 1994, John Kricfalusi refused to be involved in the making of this episode outside of voicing Ren - but allowed it to be produced due to his personal admiration of Stefani’s talent. The episode makes prominent use of the song “The Yodel Song” by Nirvana - of which the episode was written around. Future collaborations with Nirvana would result in what is now known as the “Yak Trilogy” - each episode of which has a song that would later appear on Nirvana’s 1993 album
In The Gallows.
“Yodelin’ Yaks” received critical acclaim from critics who praised Cobain’s guest performance, the gags, the music, and the psychedelic sequence - the latter of which was favorably compared to other such animated sequences including those from
Dumbo,
Yellow Submarine,
Fantastic Planet,
Heavy Metal, and
Pink Floyd - The Wall. Fans of the show also claim that the episode “saved”
Ren & Stimpy, as series creator John Krickfalusi was nearly terminated by Nickelodeon until the executives changed their mind after the success of “Yodelin’ Yaks”. The episode’s accompanying song - “The Yodel Song” - achieved domestic and international success. It would spend a record 13 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100, and become the sixth most successful song of the decade 1990-1999 according to Billboard magazine[4].
Plot
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The episode opens at the base of Mount Pilatus in Switzerland - with Ren and Stimpy sitting in their log cabin planning their next adventure. They are both looking over a map of the mountain in search of the mystical "Golden Cheese of Montaine" - accompanied by a grotesque close-up of each other’s eyes watering. However, they soon realize they are ill-prepared for the treacherous terrain and extreme weather conditions, as they have accidentally eaten all their cheese rations. They then fall into childish bickering as a bathos to the previous seriousness. However, Stimpy knows someone who can help with their mission. He picks up the “cheese phone” - a crude contraption consisting of blocks of cheese duck-taped to a landline phone - and contacts a being called “Yander the Yak.”
Moments later, the door of the cabin flies open - flattening Ren into a pancake the process - having been kicked open by a yodeling, anthropomorphic yak called Yander the Yak (guest voiced by Kurt Cobain). After having nearly set Ren on fire by cooking him as a pancake, the two ask who Yander is and if he is coming to help the two. Yander introduces himself as an adventurous, easy-going Yak who made the move to go his own way after a tragic past. That tragic past is getting his horns stuck in a fence and being laughed at by other animals, much to Ren’s mockery. He gives the two various essentials for their hike above Mount Pilatus, such as a toaster, a telephone, and a lawnmower. He then summons his two minions (“OH MERRY ME-EN!”) Rex and Pex, two stockier, enthusiastic and hyper-aggressive Yaks who always repeat the phrase "Yakety Yak, don't talk back!" With that, the group leave to begin the ascent.[5]
At the start of the trail, the gang runs into a roving band of rabid squirrels. While they escape mostly unscathed, Ren is mauled by them - much to the dismay of Rex and Pex who say "Yakety Yak, don't talk back!" Other obstacles the gang face include anthropomorphic Swiss army knives which peel Ren’s skin off, Cuckoo Land - a forest filled with cuckoo clocks that aggressively peck on Ren, and a giant chocolate bunny that chews Ren up and spits him out. Every time he gets hurt, Ren sarcastically claims he is fine (“Yeah, I AM FINE YOU EEDIOT!!”). Eventually, the gang reach a wooden bridge where the other side is guarded by moldy cheese monsters. Ren falls into a mental breakdown - unable to hide his emotions at the sight of another potential obstacle. Yander notices this and tries to comfort Ren by giving the entire gang samples of his family soup. However, upon drinking this soup, all of them begin to hallucinate and feel a rush of energy as Yander the Yak begins to sing (“The Yodel Song'' is what he sings). The world around them becomes filled with distorted cuckoo clocks, melting cheese, and marching color-changing wolves.[6]
The five of them rush across the bridge, and begin to beat and tear at the cheese guards, but the most violent out of all of them is Ren. Wielding a sharp stick in hand, Ren maniacally beats up each of the cheese guards with a rush of fury - spouting military drill commands at them and ripping them to shreds with his own teeth.[7] After he is finished, Ren becomes overjoyed that there are no more obstacles left (“STIMPY! I AM… SEEEEEETHING WITH ENERGY THROUGH MY VEINS!!!”). The gang open the cave to reveal the Golden Cheese - only to discover that it is all moldy and stale after centuries of sitting out in the open. However, Yander insists that the two eat the cheese to satisfy the journey, and the two reluctantly consume it. The episode ends with Ren and Stimpy becoming very sick and vomiting off-screen as an iris slowly circles on Rex and Pex, who say for the last time: “Yakety Yak, don’t talk back!”
Production
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Writer Eric Stefani joined Spümcø in the summer of 1991, after graduating Sheridan College with a degree in Film and Animation. From there, he became a staff member on the seminal 90s cartoon The Ren & Stimpy Show. Having participated in a band with his friends and sister a few years earlier, Stefani got the idea of having Nirvana in an episode of the show. Stefani would invite Kurt Cobain to the offices of Spümcø in early 1992, where he would perform a song in front of Stefani and series creator John Kricfalusi. The song that would become “The Yodel Song” consisted of prominent use of yodeling and lyrics about hallucinations of a wretched serial killer. Kricfalusi was skeptical that the idea would fit with the tone and humor of the show. However, he also respected Stefani’s wild drawing abilities and talent in humor. As such, Kricfalusi allowed the episode to be made, but under the condition that he not be involved in its production - sans voicing Ren.
Early drafts of “Yodelin’ Yaks” involved a different storyline, in which Ren and Stimpy discover a yak ranch and get involved in a musical number with the yaks. However, this was rejected for not being bizarre or funny enough. Writer Vincent Waller suggested bringing the recurring character George Liquor - a patriotic, conservative father figure whom Kricfalusi loved to use - to be voiced by Cobain. Said plot was to feature the character adopting Ren and Stimpy and raising them to be “real men.”[8] However, other writers such as Jim Gomez and Bill Wray felt that the character of George Liquor did not match Cobain’s anti-establishment persona, and did not wish to further anger Nickelodeon executives, and this plot was thrown out. Eventually, the team settled on crafting an original character based off of Cobain’s real life personality. This yielded Yander the Yak - a neurotic, free-spirited and adventurous Yak with a history of tragedy. Additionally, the writers noticed the recurring presence of Swiss culture and yodeling previously seen in episodes such as "The Boy Who Cried Rat” and “Stimpy’s Invention”. As such, it was decided to set the episode in Switzerland, and would involve magical cheese as a MacGuffin for the episode. The final shape of the plot was beginning to form from there.
As this episode was produced with little involvement from John Kricfalusi, the episode lacked many of the production issues caused by Kricfalusi’s perfectionism at the time.[9] Consequently, production of this episode was relatively easy and speedy. Staff working on Ren & Stimpy would later speak positively of Stefani’s ability to balance the show’s well-known edginess and style with making the show’s production more efficient. In a 2000 interview, Bob Camp - who directed this episode in particular - would claim that Stefani “had a great sense of humor and was a really fast worker. He had a lot of ideas and was great at getting the team excited about a new project. He was a big part of what made the show so successful.” The episode would wrap production by July 1992, and would be submitted to Nickelodeon executives on time.
Reception
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Weeks before the episode aired, music magazine Rolling Stone leaked an article detailing the upcoming appearance of Nirvana on the show, including information about the character they would be voicing and the general plot of the episode. The leak created significant buzz and anticipation for the episode among both Ren & Stimpy fans and Nirvana fans. In response, Nickelodeon significantly raised the promotion of the episode, and it was heavily promoted on the channel in the weeks leading up to its airdate. When "Yodelin' Yaks" finally aired on August 22, 1992, it was watched by an estimated 15.4 million viewers, which was a record-breaking number for the show and one of the highest-rated episodes in the history of Nickelodeon.
“Yodelin’ Yaks” received critical acclaim for its humor, unique storyline, and the guest appearance of Nirvana. The episode was also praised for its psychedelic sequence when “The Yodel Song” is performed, with its trippy visuals and off-beat humor. Some critics noted that the episode was a departure from the typical Ren & Stimpy formula, but still maintained the show's signature irreverence and subversive humor. The accompanying song - “The Yodel Song” - would become an international sensation, and topped music charts for weeks in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.[10]
Despite the episode’s rave reviews, it was not without controversy. Several parental and watchdog groups complained that the episode was glorifying drug use, due to the psychedelic sequence in “The Yodel Song” and the appearance of Nirvana, who were known for their drug use. Televangelist Pat Robertson even criticized the episode on his show, The 700 Club, calling it “sick” and “a violation of everything that’s good and decent. Mr. Kricfalusi ought to be an agent of Lucifer, using his sick depravity to bring us further down the path of Sodom and Gomorrah!” Additionally, then-Vice President Dan Quayle criticized the show in a speech, saying that it was "indoctrinating our children with hedonism and extreme violence."
Meanwhile, some claimed that the episode was an example of Nirvana selling out by appearing on a children’s television show. Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine called Cobain a “sleazy shitlib who thinks he is rebelling against the system, but is nothing more than a new wave band marketed towards angsty 14-year-olds.” However, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain defended the band’s decision to appear on the show, stating that they did it for fun and to reach a different audience. He also noted that he was a fan of Ren & Stimpy and appreciated the show’s irreverent humor. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam also came to Nirvana’s defense, stating that it was ridiculous to accuse them of selling out, and that it was just a fun opportunity for the band to try something new. Another defense came from Mark Arm of Mudhoney, who praised Nirvana for using their fame to introduce their fans to underground culture and subversive art. He also criticized the notion that appearing on a children’s show was selling out, arguing that it was important for artists to spread their message by reaching different audiences and breaking down barriers between different forms of media.[11]
Legacy
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Years later, “Yodelin’ Yaks” remains a watershed moment in not only both the history of Ren & Stimpy and Nirvana, but 90s culture in general. Yander the Yak would go on to appear in two more episodes, all of which would constitute the “Yak Trilogy”, further solidifying the character’s place in Ren & Stimpy lore. All three parts of the “Yak Trilogy” have been considered some of the greatest and most memorable episodes of the show, and are often cited by fans as some of their favorites. The success of “Yodelin’ Yaks” also paved the way for more guest appearances on Ren & Stimpy, including appearances by musicians such as Ween, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and They Might Be Giants, as well as actors such as Will Smith and Jerry Seinfeld.
Animation historians credit the episode to having “saved” Ren & Stimpy from cancellation, as at the time - John Kricfalusi was on the verge of being fired by Nickelodeon. Due to the roaring success of “Yodelin’ Yaks”, as well as Nintendo seeking licensing for a Ren & Stimpy game, Nickelodeon decided to keep the show on the air.
“Yodelin’ Yaks” is remembered as a unique moment in Nirvana’s career, as it allowed the band to showcase their humorous side and reach a younger audience. The episode also came at a time when Nirvana was at the height of their fame, and many fans saw their appearance on the show as a symbol of their cultural influence. All songs made for the “Yak Trilogy” would become the leading singles for Nirvana’s 1993 album In The Gallows, alongside a cover of David Bowie’s 1970 single "The Man Who Sold the World”.[12] The album was a critical and commercial success, and is widely regarded as an improvement over Nirvana's previous album, Nevermind.
In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked “Yodelin’ Yaks” fifth in their list of “The 50 Most Important Moments in Music History”. TV Guide ranked “Yodelin’ Yaks” as one of “The Top 100 Greatest Television Episodes of All Time” in 2003, and Entertainment Weekly listed it as one of “The Top 25 Television Moments that Defined the 1990s” in 2007. As of January 2023, OmniCritic ranks “Yodelin’ Yaks” with a rating of 9.2 out of 10, the highest ever rating for any episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show on the site.[13]
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[1] Since this episode is Eric Stefani’s first writing credit, both Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon executives insisted on giving Stefani “assistant writers”.
[2] IOTL, this was the planned air date for “Man’s Best Friend” - the infamous banned episode of the show.
[3] Having owned the DVD box sets of most of the show, I noticed that a lot of episodes feature recurring jokes and gags around cheese and yodeling. So, I decided to run with it.
[4] IOTL, that distinction went to “End of the Road” by Boys II Men, but I will elaborate more on that in the next post.
[5] Again, having binge watched the entire first season of the show in preparation for this timeline, I think this fits the randomness and surreal humor of the show.
[6] Basically, imagine the “Pink Elephants” sequence from
Dumbo and the paintings of Salvador Dali mixed together.
[7] Similar to the climax of a
certain episode, but I personally think that since the guards are made of cheese - and not real human flesh like George Liquor - the censors would let it pass.
[8] Essentially, the plot of that
certain banned episode….
[9] I’ve said this before, but IOTL this was a huge problem that contributed to the show’s downfall. Anyone who didn’t meet his
insane standards was fired/not hired, and those that did often found their work torn up for not meeting expectations. Historian Jerry Beck distinctly remembers visiting Spümcø and discovering that Kricfalusi was so obsessed with finding the right color for the present Stimpy was giving to Ren that the walls were lined with over
50 different cels of the same present in different colors. What makes it even sadder is that Kricfalusi ended up choosing one of the
initial choices. Yeah, talk about perfectionism….
[10] I’ve figured that the song would be very successful in a lot of European countries, since of course it features yodeling. Also, aiming for diverse audiences (read: non-white) was generally not important as in 1992, mainstream society was still predominantly white in culture. But again, that will be discussed in the next post
[11] Since
Ren & Stimpy was also a form of countercultural media, and the fact that Nickelodeon was a lot less corporate and mainstream before
SpongeBob, I don’t think rock listeners - especially in a time where “selling out” was a bad thing - would be too up in arms about such a thing happening.
[12] This is of course a part of Nirvana’s famous MTV Unplugged performance. Once again, we will discuss that later.
[13] OmniCritic is basically TTL's version of IMDb or Metacritic. Expect the history of the internet to be completely different from OTL. IOTL's IMDb, the highest rated episode of
Ren & Stimpy is “Black Hole/Stimpy’s Invention”. More specifically the latter half of the episode, what with the whole “Happy Happy, Joy Joy” dance.
